Fair point. The more precise question I wanted to ask is what behavior is encouraged/desired on HN? Are there any published norms on, "things to say?" So far as I can tell there are no published howto's, alas the ask.

You're an aerospace engineer with an ivy league business degree who's so concerned about being courteous that you posted this topic. If you're not welcome here, I'm sure as hell not.

Welcome, you seem like a nice guy. Say what you think and I'm sure you'll be fine. The closest thing to guidelines are at: http://ycombinator.com/hackernews.html

To quote PG: "The focus of Hacker News is going to be anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes a lot more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.

It may be easier to say what that doesn't include. It doesn't include most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. It doesn't include videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. Basically, if they'd cover it on TV news, it's off-topic."

I'd say the best way to figure out is to stick around, read the guidelines, and take note of the occasional flame when you get it wrong.

When in hacker news do as hackers do I guess.

"Anyone's welcome who has interesting things to say."

This is why HN is the best news site for tech news anywhere. I'm like Furqan (the author), a bit of a mutt, and have enjoyed reading and participating here.